Corset for shoes.



S. AZZARA.

CORSET FOR SHOES. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 10, 1910.

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SANTO AZZARA, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed Januaryv 10, 1910.

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Patented Nov. 15, 1910.

Serial No. 537,297.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, SANTO AZZARA, a citizen of the United States, and aresident of the city of- New York, borough of Brooklyn, county of Kings,and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Corsets for Shoes, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exactspecification.

My invention relates more particularly to supporting means or bracesforankles, and has for its primary object the devising of such a braceas will sufficiently support the ankle portion of the foot, but. at thesame time is constructed to afford the greatest amount of comfort to thewearer, and in this Way overcome the chief objections to such devices asare in common use.

Referring to the drawings forming part of this specification, Figure 1is a form of my support opened out. Fig. 2 is a shoe in side elevationand broken away to show the interior, the half of my support being shownin dotted lines, and Fig. 8 is a sectional View taken through the line0cm of Fig. 2 of a part of the shoe upper. I

My invention comprises stiffening strips of suitable material sopositioned in relation to the foot as to'most adequately support thoseparts of the foot for which such support is intended. The strips aresufficiently resilient to conform to the shape of the foot, but arestifl' enough toafford the necessary support. These features ,I do notclaim as new for they are common in nearly all types of ankle supports.The ordinary support, however, comprises a plurality of stiffeningstrips. Each is made of a single strip of straight material and they areplaced in vertica' iosition or nearly so about the foot. Such a -raccsupports the ankle part of the foot from bending sidcwise, but it alsoprevents the ankle,,to a greater or less extent, from having itsintended free hinge-like motion to aid the body in walking. The ordinarybrace thus supports the weak ankle, but offers no aid to nature tostrengthen the weakness, .as it would if it permitted the free andnatural movements of the foot. But, on the other hand, it is a harshdevice to wear and very tiring tothe foot.

In my device I place the stiffening strips in proper position to bracethe foot where it is desired, but thc'strip is not a continuous straightpiece of material.- It is made of sections and the sections are hingedtogether at the proper points. Such a stiffener has all the advantagesof those commonly used and at the same time accommodates itself to thehinge-like bending of the ankle while walking. I do not wish to confinemyself to any one particular way of using my improved hinged stiffener.But I have shown in the drawings the preferred manner of using same.-The shoe A shown is an ordinary childs i-hoe, spring-heeled and laced.But my device is intended for any size and style of shoe. Or it may beused independently of the shoe. For instance, it may be worn between theshoe and stocking. It is not only useful for weak ankles, but is ofadvantage to ice and roller skaters. I have shown each stay as composedof two pieces but more could be used if desired. The stays arepreferably combined with a piece of suitable fabric 33 cut to propershape to suitably surround the foot, without interfering with the set ofthe shoe. Fig. 1 shows a preferred shape to give the fabric, and mycombined device, as thus shown, may be conveniently termed a corset andthis feature the corset body. The corset has the incisions aand Z) whichbetter enable it to snugly fit the foot without wrinkling. Thestiffeners 0 may be made of any suitable material that is generally usedfor such purposes, as for instancc,the spring steels as are commonlyused in corsets and may be covered or otherwise as is desired.

I have preferred to use four stifl'euers in my corset, a pair on eachside symmetrically placed. A preferred position to give the stiffenersis to secure the lower edges and upper edges, respectively, of each pairsuitably close together and to spread apart the hinged parts as shown inthe drawings. This provides an opening (2 on each side of. the shoe inwhich comfortably rest the bones of the ankle joiut, while thestiffeners themselves surround the joint in the best possible way tostrengthen it but without causing any uncomfortable pressure, as theywould otherwise do if they rested upon it.

It is preferable to secure the lower sections 6 of the stays c in fixedposition and for this reason they are covered in the usual manner withsuitable fabric f and the fabric is sewed to the corset body B. Theupper sections 9 of the stays are secured to the lower sections by meansof rivets or eyelets -]L and the connection should be sufficiently looseto permit of a freely swinging motion.

The upper Sections need not be co\erctl.l These sections have slots 2'formed in their upper ends by means of which they can be loosely securedto the top of the corset body B. A preferred means of securing theseends is by employing a strip j of suitable material. It may be thinspring steel 'if desired. it may extend across the entire top of thecorset as shown and be easily flexible to snugly fit about the foot at:the shoe top, or it may be made of two sections, leaving the centralpart Z: free from any stili'ening. I prefer to use also a second stripbut this is preferably made in two sections l--l to prevent the bend atthe back of the shoe as at Z: from being too stiff. The strips j, Z andZ" are preferably covered with fabric in the usual way to facilitate aneasy sewing of them together along their top edges and also to thecorset body. The strips are provided with holes oppositely disposed andpins or eyelets m are passed through the slots 2' and secured throughthe oppositely disposed pairs of these holes in a manner to permitthesections g to freely more with the bending motion of the shoe at theankle or instep in the act of walking, It. is advisable to form theslots 2' so that their lower ends 11 will strike the eyelets m in timeto prevent the upper ends of the sections from piercing the stitchinguniting the sections l and Z with j, see Fig. 3.

My corset may be secured in any desirable manner to the shoe. It may besecured between lining and upper by sewing it in this position alongthetop and the bottom edge may be turned in and secured between theinner and outer sole. The front edges may also be sewed fast if desired.The drawing shows the three top eyelets of the shoe secured to thecorset. I have further sho n the lower sections provided with nail holes0. The ends may be bent over and nailed between the inner and outersoles. To take up as little space as possible, I have shown the endsreduced in size so they will not interfere with the proper nailing orsewing of the inner and outer soles. I do not. restrict myself to anyparticular way of securing the corsetf It is admirably adapted for usein my improved shoe upper, for which application for Letters Patent wasfiled Aug. 9. 1909, which application bears Serial Number 512,041. -ltis preferable when using my corset that the corset body B be between thefoot and the stiffening strips and the strips should be rounded at theirends to prevent any sharp corners.

Having thus described my invention I claim 1. A foot support comprisingstrips of suitable resilient material to adapt it to the shape of thefoot, each of said strips com- 1 posed of a lower section and an uppersection and a pin rotatably connecting the up-.

per section tothe lower section at a point thereon approximately equalin height to the ankle of the wearer ofthe support.

2. A foot support comprising strips of suitable flat material resilientin a transverse direction to adapt it to the shape of the foot, each ofsaid strips composed of a lower section and an upper section and a pinrotatably connecting the upper section to the lower section upon theirfiat faces at a point approximately equal in height to the ankle of thewearer of the support.

3. A corset for a foot comprising a piece of fabric suitably shaped toconform to the foot formingthe corset body, stiffening strips ofsuitable material, each 'strip composed of sections, the lower sectionof each strip secured to the corset body in fixed position, and theupper section rotatably pinned at its-lower end to the upper end of therespective lower section.

t. A corset for a foot comprising a piece of fabric suitably shaped toconform to the foot forming the corset body, a plurality of stitl'eningstrips secured in fixed positions to the lower part of the corset body,a plurality of still'ening strips rotatably pinned each at its lower endto an upper end of one of the first mentioned strips, and. having itsupper end secured to the upper part of the corset body.

A corset for a foot comprising a piece of fabric suitably shaped toconform to the foot and forming the corset body, a plurality ofstiffening strips secured in fixed positions to the lower part of thecorset body, a plurality of stiffening strips rotatably pinned each atits lower end to an upper end of one of the first mentioned strips, aslot in the upper end of each of the upper strips, and pins secured tothe corset to engage the said slots.

6. In combination with a shoe a corset comprising a piece of fabricsecured to the shoe and suitably shaped to conform to the shape of thefoot and forming the corset body, a plurality of stiffening stripssecured in fixed positions to the lowerpart of the corset body, aplurality of stiffening strips rotatablyv pinned each at its lower endto an upper end of one of the first mentioned strips, a slot in theupper end of each of the upper strips, a double strip of materialsecared to the corset body along its upper edge adapted to engagebetween its folds the said slotted ends, and pins engaging the saidslots and secured to the said double strip.

SANTO AZZARA. W'itnesses:

Siumvronr PALMA, LAWRENCE Amuse

